Almost as Pretty
by Volitan
Summary: Pepper is complimented at the sixth annual fire-fighter's ball. Established Tony/Pepper.


**Almost as Pretty**.

**Author's Note****: This is my first Iron Man Fanfic. I've absolutely no knowledge of the comics, only the films… actually, I don't think I've **_**ever**_** read a comic. My Dad did when he was younger, though, he was into Marvel. As far as I am aware, there are no spoilers for the second film, and only a small spoiler for the first one (the ball for fire-fighters).**

**I am an amateur author of false name,**

**I borrow worlds of another's fame.**

**I stake no claim on recognised locations,**

**Neither do I own canon situations.**

**I merely come here to spend a while,**

**Reading other's work; writing my own style.**

**I earn no money, no wage, no dosh.**

**I gain no finance, no revenue, no cash.**

**I do not mean to step on legal toes,**

**I mean no infringement, I'm friend not foe.**

**So please, do come in, relax, unwind.**

**I hope in my work, enjoyment you will find.**

The sixth annual fire-fighter's fundraising ball was _still_ the place to be seen, and a favourite haunt of the camera-happy paparazzi as well as the home of the gauntlet of interrogating (and irritating) reporters.

As with any high-profile, star-studded event, what any woman wore would be photographed and analysed time and time again in the press. Every woman was aware that her outfit could make or break her; the fashion police would be taking no prisoners tonight. Stylists would either find themselves praised or unemployed based on what the glossy magazines and tabloids printed.

In contrast, every man, most dressed almost _identically_ in their black-tie wardrobe, was attempting to reassure his spouse or date that they looked wonderful - most of their words falling on deaf ears. Anthony Stark was one such man, and he'd been asked _'do I look okay' _and '_does my ass look big in this?' _so often tonight that he was actually running out of different ways to tell his lady that she looked absolutely stunning.

Pepper wore an empire-line, pale pastel blue dress made of a whispy-light silk over a layer of heavy, shimmering satin. Beneath her bust, the dress was gathered into pleats, cascading like a fabric waterfall down to her ankles. It did have a conservative back (something she insisted upon), and a tiny trail followed in her wake. The only jewellery she wore were her wedding and engagement rings, a shocking difference to what the other ladies on the red carpet would be wearing - they who were as attracted to shiny objects as magpies.

She looked simply stunning, elegant, amazing… but, like several woman there tonight was blind to her own loveliness and wrapped up in a lack of self confidence.

"Tony, are you _sure_ I look okay? How fat does this dress make me look? Be honest." Pepper asked quietly, _again_, smoothing down her dress in the back of the limo.

"Pepper…" Tony whispered, leaning in to gently kiss her cheek, "You're _pregnant_, not fat. There's a difference. You look exquisite, always have, always will."

"I'm _huge_, I can't put my own shoes on any more, my ankles are swollen, I burst into tears for no reason, my back is killing me, I eat crazy food, I have heartburn that won't quit, I constantly need to pee, and I waddle like a duck when I walk… Then _the dress _had to altered, I was only measured for it two weeks ago, and then this morning it didn't fit over my tummy, and the seamstress had to let it out because I'm the size of a whale…" she rattled on, her voice still very quiet, shy, unsure.

Tony sighed and moved to pull her closer to him on the seat, taking her hand in his as he spoke, he wasn't particularly used to her being so self-conscious, it rattled him, she was his rock - the calm, controlled, steady one of the pair. "Pepper, please, you'll be the most _beautiful_ woman there tonight, and _anyone_ who disagrees will have to deal with _me_."

"You mean it? Not the dealing with you part, but the beautiful bit? Because dealing with you normally means a headache for the PR people, _especially_ now that I'm on maternity leave and not there to smooth the ruffled feathers over at the office." Pepper sniffed, fighting back another wave of tears. She'd never been particularly weepy - perhaps the pregnancy was making up for lost time.

"Virginia Jayne-with-a-Y Stark, you have always been perfection in my eyes, it just took too long for me to see that. And I haven't caused a scene for PR to sort out in _months_! And even then it wasn't _my_ fault! _Someone_ had to split that fight outside the restaurant up before people were seriously hurt!" Tony said solemnly, moving in to touch his lips to hers.

"You'd better not have wrecked my lipstick, _again._" she muttered back.

"Love you too, Pepper." he chuckled.

"Love you too, Tony." she replied, wincing as a particularly powerful kick jarred her insides, her hands flew to the area of impact, rubbing and soothing through her dress. "Okay, save the karate for when you're _outside_, Baby Stark, gosh that one _hurt_."

Tony wriggled in the back of the limo so that he knelt in the footwell and was eye-level with the bump of her tummy, Pepper protested, pointing out that his pants were now probably hideously creased.

"Hey, Starklet, don't hurt Mommy so much, Mommy doesn't like it." he said, rubbing his hands where Pepper's had been just a minute ago, the little lights inside the limo glinting off his own wedding band. He leaned in closer, placing a kiss over the bump. His tender actions were rewarded with another sharp kick.

"Ouch! Wait, _Starklet_?" Pepper groaned, whether in pain or because she was cringing at the nickname was undetermined.

"What, it's a good nickname!" he protested.

"_Starklet_?" she reiterated, looking part amused and part offended.

"Yeah, well, 'Baby Stark' isn't as catchy. Don't laugh! It took me ages to think that up!" he shrugged, moving to sit back in his seat as the limo slowed and pulled up to the red carpet.

"You're _sure_ I look alright?" she whispered before Happy opened the door for them, purposely blocking the flashing of cameras for a moment.

"Perfect, you're absolutely perfect." Tony replied, getting out of the car and turning to help her.

"You know, someone should write down instructions on how to be ladylike getting out of a car in a formal gown when your centre of balance has taken a vacation and your back hurts!" Pepper grumbled, shuffling to the open door and swinging her legs around. She gripped Tony's forearms as he gently pulled her to her feet, feet encased in died-to-match-the-dress ballet slippers.

"You didn't flash anybody, and you looked _very_ elegant." Tony chuckled, kissing her cheek and making sure she was steady.

"_How_ am I going to flash anybody in an _ankle-length dress_?" she muttered.

"With great difficulty, I should imagine, but you're Mrs. Stark, and carrying a Starklet… so, you're _Twice_ the Stark you were before! You'd find a way. Starks are _always_ great at problem solving!" he chuckled and she smiled back, shaking her head at him. Tony moved to her right side, his hand on the small of her back in a show of both emotional and physical support.

"Smile and wave at them, smile and wave." Pepper said quietly, in reference to the mass of reporters that were barely held back by the railings next to the red carpet. The questions were coming in thick and fast, and Pepper waddled as quickly as she could to the entrance of the event.

"Mrs. Stark! How's the pregnancy going?"

"Smile for the camera!"

"Over here, Mr. Stark!"

"You look radiant, Mrs. Stark, any beauty tips for Moms-to-be?"

"Are you going to tell us the sex of the baby?"

"Tony! Tony! Over here!"

"Will it be a natural birth or c-section?"

"Look this way!"

"Will you go back to work after the baby's born?"

"Have you started picking names yet?"

"Will you be in a rush to get back into shape after the birth?"

"Mrs. Stark, where did you get your dress?"

"Mr. Stark, are you looking forward to becoming a Daddy?"

"You're _really_ showing now, Is it true you're having twins?"

"Twins? I'm not _that _big, _am I_? You said the dress _didn't_ make me look fat, Tony." Pepper squeaked, looking down at her tummy. She stopped dead in her tracks and looked close to tears. Unfortunately, the media also picked up on her squeak and were definitely all ears, and microphones, and cameras.

"You look beautiful, and the _idiot_ who just said that should know better than to say such stupid stuff to a highly-emotional and very-hormonal pregnant woman!" Tony said, turning and glaring menacingly at the reporter who'd almost made Pepper cry. The reporter made a hasty retreat. Tony's stance was unconscious, but was a definite alpha-male, protecting-my-mate, back-off-_now_ pose. After a moment he softened, reaching to gently rub Pepper's bump and sooth her with gentle words.

"I'd really like to sit down, Tony." Pepper said into his ear; with that they carried on walking, not stopping to give any comments or interviews.

"Mr. Iron Man, sir? Can I have a picture? Please?" Came a call from their right as they neared the door.

A young boy, perhaps five-years-old stood at the entrance to the event, dressed in his 'Sunday best' and clinging to a disposable camera with one hand and an Iron Man action figure (the latest expo's toy; where you could remove the Iron Man suit to reveal a doll that was an alarming likeness to Tony in a tux) with the other.

"Hello, young man, where's your Mom and Dad?" Tony asked, gently steering Pepper even closer to the door and the boy.

"They're inside, my Daddy's a fire-fighter! It's a party for fire-fighters and people off the T.V. My Daddy was very brave at work and he saved people, so he's getting an award!" The boy said, looking very proud.

"What's your name?" Tony asked.

I'm David Michael Heatherton." he recited.

"David, Do your parents know you're out here?" Pepper prompted as Tony bent down to the child's level.

"Kinda." he mumbled, looking more than a little sheepish, forgetting his hero-worship of Tony at the mention of his parents.

"I'll tell you what, lets get you back to your Mom and Dad, and then you can have a photo - you should never_, ever,_ run off without telling them where you are. You might get lost. You should _always_ tell your Mom or Dad where you go. You got that?" Tony said, scolding gently-but-firmly, the little boy looked ready to cry at the telling off.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Iron Man." David sniffed, his lip quivering.

"You can tell your Mom and Dad you're sorry for running off when you're back inside with them." Tony replied, looking the child straight in the eye. He'd managed to escape his parents at an event when he was the same age, his parents had been frantic with worry, he'd been utterly terrified; it was one of his clearest childhood memories. "You mustn't run off, David." Tony said again, a little softer, hoping to reinforce what he'd said earlier.

"Come on, David, lets go find them and let them know you're alright." Pepper said, offering her hand to the child, the other hand rubbing where she'd just received another sharp kick. The boy smiled a little bit, tucked the camera under his arm and wrapped his little fingers around hers.

Tony stood, and leaned in to speak to one of the security guard standing at the door of the event, quietly asking if one of his colleagues inside could find Mr. and Mrs. Heatherton for them. The man nodded and began speaking into his earpiece before giving a quick thumbs-up to Tony and saying "Found them, they were looking for him; they're just inside the entrance to the ballroom."

"Thanks for that." Tony replied, turning his attention back to his wife and the little boy.

"You're very pretty, Mrs.-Iron-Man-Lady. _Almost_ as pretty as my Mommy. My Mommy's the prettiest girl _ever_ in the entire world - my Daddy says so, I say so too." David said, leading her by the hand into the event.

"Thank you very much, David." Pepper replied, smiling again and back to being full of confidence once more - her head held higher than it had been since she'd dressed for the evening. She was having an easy conversation with the little boy, no baby talk and not talking down to him in any way.

Tony grinned and shook his head, following them in; his hand replaced on her lower back, the other one on David's shoulder, keeping hold of him in the crowd. He couldn't believe it, he'd been telling Pepper how amazing she looked all evening to no avail. All it took to get the message across was to be told she was _almost_ as pretty as David's Mommy was.

Though, when _he'd_ been five, Maria Stark had _definitely_ been the prettiest girl in the whole world - even prettier than the antique hotrod he and his Dad were slowly working to restore.

The press had heard every word and snapped an insane number of pictures of their interaction with David. The tabloids the next day actually had very little to say about Pepper's dress, but were full of how Tony and Virginia Stark had handled the five year old; and how they'd make wonderful parents.


End file.
